


Prisoner of Paradise

by Asphodel_Sky



Series: Hell and Paradise [1]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Always female Dante, Always female Vergil, Decapitating, F/F, F/M, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Molestation, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Post DMC3, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, What if Dante fell to Hell instead of Vergil, but I just can't make anyone read through this and do a shit ton of fixing, no beta we die like men, probably a mistake from my side, that would be just cruel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-03 09:11:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asphodel_Sky/pseuds/Asphodel_Sky
Summary: Vergil always showed her love to Dante in the way Sparda showed his love to Eva.(Please check the tags for warnings. I really, really mean it.)Now with a Fanart!





	1. It's better to be free in hell

When Vergil was small and still lived in their home with Dante, mother and father, she overlooked how Sparda was kneeling on his one knee before Eva, her hand in his, and he kissed the palm. Her mother had the sweetest of smiles on her face and so soft look in her eyes when she delicately brushed Sparda's cheek with her unoccupied hand. She took father's face, rise it up a little and kiss him on the lips, short and sweet.

Vergil knew that mother and father loved each other very much and they weren't afraid to show it through their kisses and hugs, in how they were enjoying each other's company, in how they were touching each other casually. She and her sister often were showered in the same gentle love. But this one she overlooked, this somehow felt special to her. A little different than normal. It looked like some sort of an oath.

With an idea in her head, she turned around and went to seek out her sister.

Dante was in the garden, dancing around the flowers mother was so tenderly taking care of, a song was on her lips with a big smile. Her short hair, free of any bands or ribbons, were lovely swirling around in the opposite direction of her sister. When she saw Vergil, she somehow smiled even more, stopped in her twirls and started to wave to her.

When Vergil came to her and kneeled before Dante, her sister had the sweetest kind of confusion written in her face. Elder took her sister's hand in hers and just like father did it to mother, she kissed the palm of Dante's hand.

"What are you doing? Vergil?"

"I saw how father did that to mother. I wanted to do it too with you."

Dante gasped and then asked:

"What then mother did?"

Vergil told her with a quiet and shy voice and Dante smiled then, small and gentle, took her sister's face in her hands and kissed her, first on both her cheeks and then on her lips, on her nose and on her forehead, and she continued to do so until Vergil started laughing.

"This will be our thing now too!"

Vergil never thought she saw her sister more beautiful than when she said that.

~*~

She was eight when her whole world was on fire.

She was scared, so _so_ scared when demons attacked her on the playground in which she was reading William Blake's poems and playing on swings. They were ugly and smelly things and so frightening. She hadn't had the chance against them when they took her to the cemetery.

When Vergil saw a great fire in a distance in the direction of her home, her hearts stopped beating for a short second before she saw red.

How _dare_ they attack what's hers and her family. How _dare_ they bring fire where it didn't belong. How _dare_ they attack her and her beautiful mother and lovely sister.

Her memory faults her to this day what happened there, in that moment. In one minute she was pressed against a tombstone and in the next she was covered in demon blood, macabre and gore around her, shredded pieces of creatures laying at her feet. But Vergil was a smart girl and she was able to deduct she probably awakened her devil blood that's coursing in her veins.

Not caring for wounds she had on her body, she run towards her home, hoping beyond hope that her family is alive and well.

She got into the house, screaming herself hoarse through the fire for them, but no one responded. Vergil looked everywhere she could for mother and sister, where fire still wasn't that big, but they were nowhere to be found. Absence of Rebellion though…

She was alone.

Mother took Dante and run away, she thought. They left Vergil alone. They abandoned her.

But even with her heart broken, she still loved them both the most in this ugly, dark place her world has became.

~*~

Vergil was seventeen when she felt most lonely.

She slept with some man from Fortuna and now, a few weeks later she knew she's pregnant with his child. _Her_ child.

What she wouldn't do now to have mother and Dante at her side. She's really scared, even if it's hard for Vergil to admit it. She can't be a mother, not now, when she still doesn't have enough power to be able to protect it, not when she barely can protect herself, not now when demons are still trailing behind her. The child will be safer away from Vergil than with her.

But for now she has to find a safe place to stay in until the child is born. She needs to change her name too, it's going to make it harder for demons to find them, when the woman is the most vulnerable. She has to enable some wards around the area.

The night Vergil learnt about pregnancy she cried herself to sleep.

~*~

She was eighteen when she left Nero, her sweet daughter, in the orphanage in Fortuna. The girl was going to be strong, Sparda's blood was coursing in her veins, but fortunately not strong enough to attract demons until much later in her life, when the distinctive feel of her power will become big enough there will be no chance of mistaking it. But for now she is going to be safe there.

She was eighteen when she found Dante and this time, it was her who abandoned the younger twin. She gave her exactly the same Dante gave her, and made her feel what Vergil felt when they abandoned her. Somehow with that petty revenge though the elder hadn't felt better with it. If anything, she felt guilt for doing that to her sister.

She immediately stopped thinking about that meeting. She didn't have time to think about such human things like _guilt_.

She was nineteen when she sent Arkham with an invitation for Dante. She was nineteen when she raised Temen-Ni-Gru to take father's power and legacy. She was nineteen when she stabbed her twin with Rebellion and left her behind.

She was nineteen when she fell on her knees and once again kissed Dante's hand. Her sister wasn't very pleased by that. She looked furious and disappointed.

Her twin slapped her on the left cheek.

"Don't do things you don't mean, _sister_ " Dante hissed at her, ripping away her hand from Vergil's.

Even when the pain disappeared, she still felt phantom fire on her face. Very well then, she thought. Dante didn't want this, she won't give it to her.

(She didn't felt how her heart stopped beating when she saw disappointed look on her twins face. She didn't see how Dante's eyes became glassy from tears, she _didn't._ )

She was nineteen when Dante fought with Vergil and won.

And then the ground started shaking. The floor under them both started crumbling away. As if predicting what's going to happen, the younger woman pushed Vergil away, she threw a notebook at her so hard it nearly broke elder twin's nose and then suddenly her Dante was falling. The last thing Vergil saw was her signature blood red coat.

Dante abandoned her again. Her twin had chosen this fate and Vergil chose to not follow after her. She won't fall to hell now that her twin is there. It was the plan in the improbable chance that younger woman won against her.

Vergil is not going to miss her, she won't, she won't, _she won't._

The woman looked at the notebook.

It had a hole at the bottom, it looked like Dante had shot through the cover. To this hole were keys attached.

It seems Vergil became a sentimental fool because she hid it away in her blue coat.

~*~

When Vergil came back to Fortuna a week after Temen-Ni-Gru, her daughter's blood was screaming for her. Before she could make herself stop, her feet took her in front of that orphanage she left Nero.

Her daughter was playing alone in the yard, softly mumbling under her nose. She didn't look sad, but she didn't look happy either. No one is looking after her too.

Suddenly some older boys run through her sand castle, laughing and screaming. Nero just looked really disappointed by this, but not surprised, Vergil noted. She also didn't cry. That wasn't a normal child's response. Even if not tearing up she could blame the devil's blood, the disappointed look shouldn't even be on such young face. Even Vergil knew that.

Woman's heart stopped beating for a second and in the next moment, she had a small girl in her arms, taking her away from orphanage. Nero didn't even struggle against her, she didn't scream. Absolutely nothing. Girl was just clinging to her, as if fearing Vergil would drop her. The woman's heart shaked at this revelation. That told her enough about how much her daughter didn't like this place, even if the girl might not be aware of that.

Leaving her there was a mistake.

(She should have took her when she found Dante, her sister surely would have helped her taking care of Nero.

_But Dante is not here anymore._

Vergil squashed the unwanted voice in her head. She didn't want to think about her sister, she _didn't._ )

When Vergil was far enough from Fortuna, she put Nero down and took the notebook hidden in her coat. She looked at it hesitantly, but after chastising herself for being a fool she opened it.

On the first page were written old Dante's alias, her true name under it (with the surname Sparda added, as if it was an afterthought, Vergil noted) year and, predictably enough, address to her shop.

Elder twin hid the notebook again and took Yamato in one hand, her daughter's hand in the other.

"Come my dear, from now on your mother will take care of you."

The woman opened the portal and went through it with the small child, never once looking back.

~*~

When she first came into the shop, she was expecting a lot of dirt and disorder, but besides the old demon blood on the floor and some empty bottles, this place was surprisingly… clean. Oh, it definitely is in a big need of renovations, changing the panels are a top priority, but otherwise it was quite a good place. Very spacious, Vergil never thought her sister would require for herself such a big home.

On the first floor though there were a lot of unpacked boxes and except for Dante’s bedroom and a bathroom, the rest of rooms aren't furnished. But at the very least there was enough space for Vergil and Nero to have their own rooms. The woman still has some money in her bank account, enough to buy them beds and wardrobes from second-hand stores.

(She's not going to use her sister's room. Even if she is to use her home, Vergil is too pride fully to use Dante's room.)

It still seems there’s a lot of work waiting for Vergil to make this building liveable and a place where a small child can actually live in, but their future isn't looking so bad anymore.

She almost wishes her Dante was there, lamenting how Vergil behaves as if she owns this space.

~*~

For some reason Nero liked the vinyls Dante had acquired over the years. Vergil cannot even phantom why, the music for was nothing more but a background noise to her ears.

But when she accustomed to it, to the strong guitars of rock and to soft jazz, the woman can say she might even began enjoying it.

Then she started actually listening to the lyrics and right off the bat she hid some vinyls away in Dante's room. Some of those texts were downright _nasty,_ but some of them were just too depressing for her child to listen to. Some of them Vergil couldn't stand because some of them ringed a little too close to her heart.

Vergil learnt she liked Pink Floyd and Queen the most, her daughter meanwhile preferred Joan Jett, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper.

She wondered which bands her sister liked the most that night when she went to sleep.

~*~

A few months passed by. Nero became a happy little girl, often she was dancing around the office part of the shop (the child reminded her so much of Dante when her sister was in her daughter's age, with her big smile, song on her lips and just dancing around, especially when she was wearing white dress shirt and black short pants), or watching cartoons on the small TV. Vergil also has enrolled her to nursery, so whenever a short job came in, the woman doesn’t have to worry about finding a suitable nanny for Nero.

The notebook in her inner pocket becomes heavier with every day, until Vergil finally snapped and just opened the damn thing past the first page.

“Nell gave me this and said to start writing some bullshit, says it might help me organize my thoughts or something. Well, fine. I’ll humor her just this once. Now, let's establish firstly that this is a journal, not a diary, because diary sounds too much like that girly stuff I don't have time for and I checked in a dictionary that it won't be entirely a proper term _anyway_ —’’

First pages were filled with day to day things, like shopping list or the next job her sister was doing, or even complaining how her clothes had bullet holes in them, but those entries became progressively darker the more Vergil was reading them.

Some entries shocked her more than the others:

“Nell’s dead. Oh my God, Nell’s dead. She died just like mother: attacked by demons when she was most vulnerable while being surrounded by fire. This time though, instead of hiding in a closet mother shoved me into, Nell died in my arms.

It’s too similar to what happened all those years ago in our home, but back then I wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone. Mother hid me away in a closet, told me to change my identity if she won’t come back and then closed the doors. She went to find Vergil and died in the process. God, I still hear her dying screams in that night and how she was calling for sister.

Why I am not strong enough, why I still can’t protect what is dear to me, why why whywhy _why_ —’’

"I won't be using my alias as Antoine Redgrave anymore. I'm going back to my first name."

"One man tried to touch me. I punched him in the nose and ran away. When I was fourteen though and I landed in the same situation, I shot that man in the arm first, and later I shot him down. I didn't want to kill him, I didn't—"

"Today I got shot in my arm and leg. Not really a big deal with my healing, but it still hurts. Unfortunately, I can't really stop and ponder about that, it seems those demons are following me—"

"Today's supposed to be our birthday, but I don't feel like celebrating. It never feels right since I was eight—"

"Drinking vodka doesn't help anymore, I'll have to change it for something stronger soon—"

And finally the last entry Dante ever made:

‘’Vergil,

It seems I am either dead or out of commission or MIA if you’re reading this. Well, that doesn’t matter now.

The shop? It’s yours now. Take care of it for me, will ya? Maybe it’s not the best place in the world, but it is, well, was mine at some point, is it really wrong for me to be this attached to this place? It was my first really permanent place to live in since we were both eight and I rather like it. Devil May Cry rings something right for me, so name the shop like that, okay?

Take care, sis. I love you.

Dante”

Vergil never thought she could hate herself more than did in that moment, when the guilt was eating her away and she felt tears in her eyes.

~*~

Nero started attending an elementary school when Vergil got a job on Mallet Island.

It was truly a hellish mission.

A lookalike of her mother came to the office. She was nothing like Eva though besides the appearance — wearing a black leather corset and leather pants was not in mother's style, 'Trish' was also much stronger than any human had a business to be. She was a demon with her mother's face and voice. Vergil hated it.

She knew it probably was a trap. But something in her had hope that if the woman were to take this mission, she is going to get some information about Dante. First intel about her darling sister since the fall. Since Temen-Ni-Gru.

Thank God for Morrison, thought the elder twin, he was taking care of Nero when she was on prolonged jobs, just like this one.

On Mallet Island, for unknown reason, Vergil could sense an almost familiar energy, for some reason her heart started beating faster, her blood was on the verge of singing. Unfortunately, the sensation lasted only a second before she could even hope to identify it, after that she felt a malicious, _dark_ presence that froze her to the core.

That presence belonged to her mother's murderer and the destroyer of her happiness: Mundus. A fake God who made Trish, as it turned out.

When Vergil finally got to him after defeating hordes of demons, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the Demon God, or rather the area around him, was surrounded by that awfully familiar feeling for a few seconds before it disappeared again. It appeared and disappeared in the course of their duel, always only for a few seconds.

Vergil was able to drive Mundus back to the Underworld with a big help from Trish. And with him, gone forever was the almost familiar sensation hanging in the air.

~*~

"Why did you help me on Mallet?"

"Queen has ordered me to."

"Who is this 'Queen'?"

"I don't know. I just know that people are calling her Bianco Angelo. Only the highest rank devils know who she is and how she became Mundus' bride. Most of us just know of her as Queen. She always wears a white mask when in lower rank demons and devils presence. Some say that she might be a some sort of a mermaid and that's how she charmed the Emperor."

"That's ridiculous. Mermaids don't actually exist."

"Maybe, but how otherwise she was able to secure God's bed?"

"I don't care. Say, have you heard about Dante?"

"No. This name I hear for the first time."

Vergil's heart stopped beating at this revelation. 

~*~

Every time their birthdays pass and every time Nero is a year older, Vergil can't help but miss her sister. She would've loved her daughter, she has the same fire and spirit as Dante. Mother would've loved her granddaughter too.

Her heart bleeded every time she saw Eva's photo, which was still on the desk in the office, and the photo of Dante and Vergil, which was in her sister's room.

She refused using that room for herself, at first it was a thing of pride, now it was out of guilt. She just couldn't take more things from Dante than she already had. Over the years Vergil just changed the floor and painted the walls, so the room looked more presentable, but besides that it remained unchanged.

She prohibited Nero from coming there. Even Vergil herself comes to this room only to dust it off or change the sheets, in case if this improbable scenario of younger twin coming back home came to be. This was Dante's private area. They intruded in this home enough as it is, even if the deed to the place is now rightfully Vergil's.

She would prefer if it were theirs, not Vergil's alone.

~*~

She will never let Lucia go to hell. Not when there's finally a chance for her to go there and find Dante. Not when for the first time in years she had any sparkle of hope to meet again with her darling younger sister.

Nero will be fine. She's a grown woman, trained to fight demons, a devil huntress of her own. She and her ever faithful Red Queen are going to keep everyone that matters safe. She has Trish as a backup and even Lady sometimes swings by now. It wasn't the most comfortable first meeting after the years following Temen-Ni-Gru for Vergil and Mary, but both women were able to come to an agreement.

When Vergil went to hell after Argosax, she didn't look back even once.

~*~

Hell was a hostile and chaotic place for those unaccustomed to it. It's a wasteland in the place she landed with Argosax. When Vergil dealt with him, a horde of weak demons instantly attacked her, probably attracted by the power she resonated with.

After what felt like weeks of wandering around, looking for any hint that Dante was here or, in the worst case, finding the evidence that her sister was dead, she met some really old devil that wasn't hostile. He's willing to help if she got him some demons to eat and also sacrifice. It was a small price to pay for any information of her sister's whereabouts.

He was an Oracle. Or at least something close to it, as he said, because he couldn't really predict the future, as the Crown Princess was rumored to able to do. But he could answer any asked question, even if he couldn't do it directly.

"Old Magic is a capricious thing, dear child. The humans and devils that made the rules by which it is bounded even more so."

"Humans bounded magic by rules?"

"They were like Gods to their fellows from their kin, but yes. The same thing you can say about those devils. Our Emperor claims to be their descendant, but that's not true, even if he is a descendant of a powerful family of old. Now, what is your question?"

"Where can I find Dante?"

For a short second old man's eyes sparkled with brilliant light.

"You have to head to Mundus' Castle and talk with the servants or the Princess. If you prove yourself, they will take you to the Queen, because she's the key to finding your sister. But beware and heed this warning: do not touch her children. Our Queen is ruthless to those who have a malicious and wicked intent directed at young Princess and Prince."

Again with that Queen. Why does she seems to be tied with her somehow? Firstly she sends Trish to aid her and now she is 'the key' to find Dante?

Who exactly is the Queen? Why she's so tied to Vergil and Dante?

That didn't matter. The elder is going to know this soon enough. Right now, she had a castle to conquer.

~*~

She isn't going to conquer this castle.

If she was nineteen still, so full of herself and feeling indomitable, she would go for this in a heartbeat, headfirst like an idiot. But she’s not nineteen anymore and so this time she’s going to just sneak inside and find Queen. Not only she is going to find her target faster, but also she is in full strength if it comes to fighting with Mundus in case the need arises. 

The building is _enormous_. And pretty dark too, but one could see the richness it was decorated with. The amount of blood red curtains alone…

Suddenly, a child— no, a young woman run into her with a laughter on her lips and mischief in her eyes.

She was much shorter than Vergil, her white hair made into twin French braids, her face was hidden by a purple mask with two golden dots under both of her eyes. The mask was cut just so only the lower part of face was visible. She had golden eyes with a pupil like those of a cat. Her smile showed off her teeth, sharp and dangerous.

She had a purple dress with one strap over her right shoulder, the other one was left bare, instead there was attached a sleeve at a lower point. The thick golden ribbon was embracing her waist loosely. The skirt was light, long enough to hid girl's knees. It reminded Vergil a little of togas Ancient Greeks and Romans were wearing back in the day.

Although the girl had appearance of a human, Vergil knew she was a devil. But for whatever reason the girl's feel of power was so hidden that she felt like a human to woman's senses.

"I dreamed about you! You must be Vergil, right? Come with me, I'll take you to mother queen and she'll take you to king father."

"Why should I?"

"Because Old Magic says so! Now come on, you will probably want to talk with mother before father knows about your arrival. And he will know sooner or later. He always do, even if his Eyes normally look far beyond the castle."

She took Vergil's hand and started to run.

On princess' back symbol of the crescent moon and full sun was embroidered in her dress. It fits, Vergil supposed, if she really is an Oracle.

Princess turned suddenly trice to the left and once to the right, only then she stopped before big black doors.

"Those are mother queen's chambers."

The girl knocked softly twice and doors opened.

Queen was sitting on an, armchair, reading, no, writing in some kind of notebook,but she looked up upon arrival of her daughter and a guest.

Her face too was obscured by a white mask with three dogs under her left eye and a line under her right one, but while her girl's was hiding only the top of the face, Queen's mask hid it almost completely, almost reminding her of male opera masks, but hers was hiding half of the blood red lips and the both of the eyes instead of just one.

She was wearing white dress, long to the floor, but with a cut following from her hip, showing off the left leg and a gray lace garter. Before the cut ended at the hip, it was hid with a white sash, which was tied behind her in a big bow. It also seemed she was wearing something similar to corset, embedded with a golden ribbon. Under it she had what seemed to be a gray skin tight shirt. On Queen's hands were long white opera gloves. Her hair, as white as her daughter's, were made into a complicated bun.

She too felt like a human to Vergil's senses. There was no familiarity in it.

"We have a guest I see."

Queen's voice was weirdly distorted, as if it was under the spell so no one would recognise it. It was also very even, highly controlled by the woman. She seemed she didn't even need to try to keep emotions out of her tone.

"I'll need to inform Emperor about this."

She stood up, taking a claymore that was resting beside her armchair. It too had that weird mask, but this time it was in the color of the sword and had a golden crown. It was also somehow linked to the mask Bianco Angelo was wearing on her face.

Curious. And suspicious.

Vergil couldn't get even a glimpse into Queen's eyes.

"It seems mother queen doesn't want to talk, huh…" said the girl while taking Vergil's arm and hooking it with her own.

"Phoebe, where is Surtr?"

"He's with king father."

Queen looked at Vergil.

"My husband already knows about your arrival. He is expecting you in the Throne Room. We'll take you there."

"I don't want to meet Mundus. I just want to find my sister and I was told you know where she is."

"Oh, so you don't want to meet your mother's murderer?"

Vergil attacked the Queen with a scabbard and summoned her spectral swords. Quite predictable, the woman in white easily blocked all of them.

"What do you know?" Vergil's voice was full of venom.

"Does it really matter?"

She was starting to get really annoyed by that impassiveness.

Their swords clashed.

Queen is strong, Vergil noted, while trying to break their swords apart to make numerous swings. But it seemed like Queen already knew her fighting style from _somewhere_ because she did all she could to to not let Vergil have even a second or any sort of space to make Judgement Cut.

Her eyes focused on the weird mask on the rain guard of the claymore.

Maybe if she destroyed it…

She firstly needed to not get stabbed while doing it first.

She parred the next high slash of the claymore, its giggling joke's mask played on Vergil's nerves. It's as if it _dared_ her to hit it, to break the mask apart until it's no more. It _dared_ as if expecting the woman isn't able to do it

It didn't matter now if it was a strategic move to destroy the mask or not — it was a question of pride as the swordswoman for Vergil. She _is_ going to make this mask submit to Yamato.

The woman was every so often sending spectral swords to Queen, hoping she finally gets overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them and she is going to pay more attention to them instead of Yamato and Vergil. But it seemed like the woman in white had seen through this plan, because she never left her gaze be away from her for even a second.

She was dangerous, that Queen.

That short millisecond of being distracted by her thoughts costed Vergil a dent in her skull that was made by the claymore. That was just _mean_ , the sword was heavy and if it weren't for a fact woman isn't exactly human, she would now probably be lying dead on the floor. But as it is, she was still fit for fighting.

Queen fought as if she was dancing, she was beautifully swirling around and yet every move was deliberated, not missing a step. Her body was moving exactly like she wished it to, Vergil thought as she tried to stab the woman, she had a full control of her body that she rarely seen anymore.

Dante used to have almost that much of a control over her body.

But finally, _finally_ , Vergil got enough of a leeway to hit the mask on the sword hard enough to make it crack and then, two pieces slid down on a stone floor and under it was…

Rebellion.

The mask on Queen's face also cracked and fell, showing a beautiful face of her sister.

The power filled out the chambers, bringing an enormous warm and embracing Vergil and Phoebe.

"Dante…"

Her heart started beating faster, harder, while she looked at her lovely younger twin with shocked face.

Dante didn't smiled. Her face was still stone cold, even if Vergil saw fire in her ice colored eyes. She was still a true beauty, but in a different sense — some of her lines were softer from those Vergil remembered when she was nineteen, her eyes got a new, sharp edge to them, her blood red lips seemed fuller too.

Not for the first time in her life, Vergil wondered how soft Dante's lips would feel if she were to kiss her, to bite into the lower lip, to taste them and worship. To kiss gently at first and then work it up to a passionate kiss filled with desire and lust, and love. To make her sister's pupils dilate, when she catches up with Vergil's intentions.

"I need to take you to Mundus. He knows you're here and he's waiting for you."

Before Vergil could start arguing or even _begging_ her sister to stop and listen to her, Dante went ahead to the Throne Room, not looking back even once.

"You need to win her over auntie Vergil. Otherwise we can't go."

Elder twin looked at Phoebe — her sister's _child_ — with wide eyes. She didn't have the mask on her face anymore, showing fully her big golden eyes and two beauty marks under the corners of each eye. Her energy felt like Dante's, but also a lot like Sparda's.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't really say why right now. King father would get mad at me if I told you myself. Come on. I can feel king father is getting impatient."

~*~

They stood in front of big dark doors.

Phoebe came inside first without pause, while Vergil stopped in her tracks to look at a big portrait of her sister. She had the same clothes as when she met her, her long hair loose around her, Rebellion next to Dante. The area around her was kept in dark tones with occasional red, while she herself was in white, contrasting the background. Under all of this there was a text:

"Wedding portrait: Queen Bianco Angelo"

Her twin to this day was wearing her wedding dress? Why?

On the opposite wall there was Mundus' wedding portrait but Vergil was very much not interested in it. She sneaked just a glimpse to see who was on it.

She looked again at the doors and this time, she went in.

This was probably the biggest room in this whole place. It took Vergil a while until she got close to the throne itself. On it, Mundus was sitting.

He was very similar to that figure he used on Mallet as his medium. He's just human sized this time too. It didn't bode well.

"Finally the Eldest daughter of Sparda has arrived. A whole family, together at last."

"If you think I'll ever consider you a family, then you'll be sorely disappointed."

"Oh really? I'll have you know my Angelo has married me _willingly_. Am I right?"

Dante was standing next to Mundus' throne, the children behind her. Vergil got a glimpse on Surtr.

Boy, contrary to his name, was wearing clothes inspired more by ancient Egypt than Nordic vikings. Although she probably shouldn't be surprised, when it came to Dante you should expect the unexpected.

His torso was bare except for a heavy golden necklace, his orange skirt was much longer than those wore by Pharaohs. The belt also was in golden colour, Surtr also had something akin to gear made from gold around his hips, it was almost reaching his knees.

"Yes" responded Dante. Vergil hated how controlled and calm her voice was.

Judging by Phoebe's age, Dante was there for over twenty years, on the mercy of Demon King. Elder twin felt nauseating just thinking about that.

"Come here."

And Dante, her sweet, lovely sister, came to him, without any hesitation. Mundus stood up and embraced Queen by her waist, his other hand reaching for her breast. Mundus jerked the loose material from bow and Vergil watched how the skirt fell, showing the dress was never really a dress, just a smart illusion. Her sister now was standing only in white bodysuit.

Date let him do whatever he wanted with her.

"You see, your sister and I made a pact together. She will stay with me here as my bride" he kissed her then on the cheek "and do everything I want" the hand that was holding the fabric now was massaging Dante's ass "and in exchange I won't order my demons to attack you or your family, if you ever had one, and I won't send her to kill humans."

Mundus slipped his hand under the bodysuit and squeezed the breast. Dante let him so this, never once even protesting, like an obedient doll.

"For over twenty years she was protecting you, knowing you will sooner or later come to me to meet your end. Knowing she'll watch you die and yet she still sacrificed her freedom for you, daughter of Sparda. And I have to say, my bride was _very_ obedient to me since our wedding night."

She was on the sea of cold, serene waves washing her feet. The only thing that's out of place is that the water was red.

Vergil felt such a fury at this moment she was working on pure instinct while she _shredded_ Mundus into tiny pieces, ignoring the way she was getting harmed. It didn't matter — he _dared_ to touch her darling Dante, he _dared_ to make her submissive to his will, he _dared_ to keep her in his castle as a glorified slave.

Vergil for the second time in her life saw red and couldn't remember afterwards what she had done, standing in the midst of body parts.

She turned to look at her sister. She was in defensive stand, Rebellion's sharp end was meeting her eye. She didn't miss the fact how Dante was hiding children behind her.

"Are you going to kill us all now, sister?"

Vergil looked at her, sheathing Yamato back to her scabbard. She glimpsed at her prized blade and made up her mind.

For the first time in over twenty years, she kneeled down in front of her sister, presenting her Yamato.

It was the most precious thing she had except for Nero. Yamato, the gift from their father that helped her survive. Yamato, the blade that kept her nightmares at bay during cold and long nights. Yamato, the sword she used to protect her loved ones.

She was now presenting it to her twin, hoping beyond hope she is going to forgive her and show mercy.

Tear slashed Dante's cheek, then a second one, then third, until she was crying her heart out.

She took Yamato and embraced Vergil's head, bringing her to her stomach. Younger woman kissed her forehead.

"You understand, you finally understand…"

Vergil hugged her hips and relished in the gentle touch.

Finally, she was with Dante once more.

"Mother, what are we going to do now?" Surtr's quiet voice cut through their reunion.

Younger twin helped Vergil get up from her knees and gave back Yamato to her. Before she could cut through the fabrics of space, Dante stopped her.

"You can't cut here. Mundus chose this place because Old Magic has the strongest spot here. The whole hell will come undone if you do this and trust me, we _don't_ want that."

Dante took Surtr's mask and tapped behind it. The thing for a second lighted up and now Dante had in her hand not only the mask, but also four Faust's coats.

When the mask was taken of her son's face, Vergil felt a warm, almost hot power was embracing her. It was hot in a pleasant way, she noted. It felt like a beginning of summer in their childhood home, when Eva began making a lot of fruit pies.

Her sister gave each of them the coats leaving one for herself.

"I always knew it will come in handy one of those days."

"How were you able to—?"

"Don't ask, I _know_ you don't wanna know. Let's hurry, before Mundus will reform himself."

"One would've thought he will finally stay dead."

"It's not that easy to kill Mundus, especially on his territory. But you did enough to ensure we're not bound with him anymore."

Dante took her children's hands and started running towards the exit.

When they were sufficiently far from the castle, not recognised by any of the servants (the coats helped them blend in with the shadows, they also muffled quite a lot of sound. Vergil was beginning to wonder of she could make carpets and wallpapers out of them to soundproof Devil May Cry), she took Yamato and sliced through the space.

"Finally free. I'm telling you, I will not miss this place for even a second."

Dante already seemed to be more alive, more relaxed than she was in the castle.

"Well, it's time to take you on that trip to the Human World I promised you a few years back, kids" Younger twin took Vergil's hand, while Surtr took Phoebe's.

"Let's go home."


	2. Than to be a slave in paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahdndinw I got a beautiful Fanart!  
> https://mobile.twitter.com/NeVillivEd/status/1146699724944072705  
> Give the artist some love!

When she was small, Dante asked her mother why Sparda kneeled before Eva an awful lot of time when they were alone.

"Father is strong right? Why he's kneeling before you then?"

Eva smiled and giggled quietly, then she took Dante and seated her on her lap.

"It's not about being strong my dear. Sparda does that because that's how he shows his love to me. He kneels and submits himself to my mercy and I always grant it to him."

Right when she said that, Vergil came into the room, a little winded and with a book in her arms. It seemed like she was reading the poems again, thought Dante, when she saw the familiar cover. Eva gestured to Vergil to come closer and also seated her on the other lap.

"When you love someone the most in the world, Sparda use to say to me, you present them your sword. This sword fights for the person it's presented to, he says. For him, it's the highest form of saying 'I love you'."

Two daughters looked at her with wide eyes, the breath stolen from their lungs.

"So if I present Yamato to Dante—?"

"Dear, maybe wait until you are older before you do that."

"But I love Dante the most on this world! And you too! And father too!"

"And to whom you should present your sword then, if you love all of us the most?"

Vergil opened her mouth, then she closed it and started thinking, but she didn't came up with a good response. Dante took her sister's hand in reassurance and smiled to her widely. Vergil returned it with shy and cute smile of her own.

Her sister is so cute, thought Dante.

Eva cradled them both to her chest and said:

"You don't have to think about that now anyway. Now, do you want to make with me an apple pie?"

~*~

She could barely breath in this closet surrounded by fire. Her lungs were filled with poisonous smoke and ashes and blood. 

She heard demons walking around their home, sniffing, looking, but it seemed mother did something to ensure Dante was safe from them in the small space. But she was still so scared. 

They already killed mother. What if they also killed elder sister too? She wasn't here when the attack happened. She probably went out to read that ridiculous poetry book of hers. And if demons got a wind of her… 

Dante shouldn't held her highs up at any case. Better to be prepared for the worst than to hope for the best and get those hopes crushed. She much more preferred nice surprises than the bad ones. 

After what felt like hours demons finally got out of the home, but Dante waited a little longer before she got out of the closet. When her instincts stopped screaming immediate danger, she went out, grabbed Rebellion and a photo album and ran, ran, ran. The farther from home the better. It wasn't a safe haven anymore. And if Vergil didn't come back to them, to _her_ … 

Dante doesn't want to think about that. 

So she ran. She changed her name as per mother's request, she started a new life. She took only three photos from the album and the rest she burnt. The less things she had from her past, the better, the safer. 

The first photo was a photo of her dear mother, in her favourite dress. On the second one was Dante and Vergil, sleeping together in one bed. The third one was a family picture, not like the one Sparda commissioned, but the one much more homey and warm. Sparda and Eva were in the back, his arm was around their mother's waist and they were watching Dante and Vergil's dance practice. 

She hid those two last photos well, while the photo of Eva was always making her way to the outside world. The less other people know about her family, the better. Just in case if Vergil was still alive, somehow. The demons won't hunt her down because of Dante, if she ever got caught by them. 

But in the middle of the night, when she felt so lonely, she took put those photos and looked at them, feeling sorrow at the times long past. 

~*~

Vergil was _alive_ and what they were doing when they finally met after the years? 

_They had a screaming match_. 

How the hell Vergil thought she would be okay with demons after they destroyed their home? Their happiness? 

Also, what was supposed to mean, getting more _power_? This thing is completely meaningless if you didn't have anyone to gain it for! And Dante is pretty sure Vergil wasn't doing it for her, no matter how much she tried to convince younger sister of that. 

Besides, what use is power when you didn't have the strength to carry its full weight? Besides, there always is going to be someone more powerful than you. And the power didn't decide the winner. How her sister could forget about such basic concept? 

And Dante's last words before Vergil went her way and abandoned her? 

"Go! It's not like I need you! I was able to survive without you for ten years and I'll do it for twenty more if I have to!" 

The famous last words.

~*~

When Vergil tried to kiss her hand, Dante slapped her hard. 

She tried to dominate her in this gesture. She tried to make her _submit_ in a fake show of submission. It wasn't about love — it was about conquering for Vergil now. The exact _opposite_ of their mother's teachings and father's actions. 

_Of course_ she wouldn't accept that. 

So Dante slapped her, didn't give her the mercy when Vergil was on vulnerable position, even if she wanted to cry because her elder sister forgot. It broke her heart and filled her eyes with tears of sorrow. 

"Don't do things you don't mean, _sister_ " she hissed and ripped away her hand from Vergil's. 

It really hurt, but it was necessary. If her elder sister didn't understand the gesture anymore, the Dante didn't need it. 

Oh, how far they both had fallen, if they couldn't agree on anything.

~*~ 

The fall was pretty boring, if she could say so. 

It was pretty long, the rush she felt in the first minute disappeared after just a few seconds, the air was rather cold on her back and the boredom she felt was not to be measured. She regretted not taking any of her magazines on this job, at least she would have something, _anything_ to do. 

When she finally landed, her instincts immediately went awry. They were screaming at her like _crazy_ to hide, to run, to come back to the Human World where it was pretty _safe_ , while here she could only expect a grand battle royale. 

Those three big red dots in the sky didn't help at all. Dante felt she was constantly observed by them.

She soon learnt those were Eyes of Mundus. The God of this world. The Emperor. And that Sparda betrayed him specifically. 

The only thing Dante could thought at that was 'Well, shit'. 

He is going to make a move to get her. He is going to kill her by any means necessary, she was sure of it. And he probably isn't going to be kind enough to give her a fast death. 

She would need to think of something to convince Mundus to not kill her and maybe even give Vergil an immunitet of sorts. Somehow. She was always good at creative thinking, she is going to find the solution for this particular problem. 

But in this moment, she had some Fausts to defeat.

~*~

She didn't need to know where exactly those shadow demons were hiding their coats. But she got four of them now and Dante had a feeling they're going to be useful in the future, and her feeling was never wrong before. She sealed them away in her boots. 

Sealing wasn't exactly her forte, although she was able to learn the very basic ones with more ease than other people for some reason. Probably because of her devil's blood shenanigans. Dante wasn't going to delve in it though. 

She looked into the red Eyes. 

She wasn't going to let him catch her easily. 

Years passed and she learnt more and more about the Underworld. She learnt a lot about magic now too. She learnt how exactly a mere demon could advance to become devil. 

The process is rather surprising, if she could say so. The demons had to firstly become aware of its own action, develop a sense of 'I', so to speak. It needed to stop being so animal-like. So feral all the time. Driven by instincts alone and not a shred of intelligence. 

To become the true devil though the demon had to be blessed by one of divine forces. Dante learnt Sparda was blessed by Old Magic, and It had given him the mastery over seals, wards and spectral weapons. He became one of her children and there were rumors that Old Magic liked her father so much it went and blessed the whole family. 

She too, was blessed by Old Magic, but one of the devils that were a subject of It said the Divine Fire had a bigger claim to her. 

He couldn't tell her what she got from the Fire though. It's been pretty rare for Divine to bless anyone by Itself, rather the pieces of It were more likely to gave their blessings, like Inferno gave its blessing to those who were prone to destruction, or like Fire of the Home gave its blessing to those who are family oriented, or like Guardian Fire that gave its blessing to those who were protectors in their core. 

Divine Fire was a combination of all of those aspects of fire. All the passion, destruction, warmth, protection, in one Divine form. And she was blessed by it. The Fire's gift to her was a mastery over any kind of weapon and no matter how low or high temperature, she always felt comfortable. She could walk around naked in winter snow storm and it wouldn't faze her at all. She could walk in a winter coat in the hottest desert and she wound even bat an eye. 

Meanwhile she learnt Mundus was blessed by Black Magic — magic of shapeshifters and creators. If he so desired, he could make even demons, it was rumored. He could be big in his size, or barely a human size. 

Those rumors weren't rumors at all, seeing as she was standing in front of human sized Mundus, while when she was coming to his castle, she could see him with ease from afar, not only his eyes but also face. 

Dante came to his throne room. If she could, she would explore his castle before doing that, but if everything goes according to the plan, she is going to have a lot of time to learn this place inside out. 

~*~

"Were finally meeting, younger Daughter of Sparda. Quite honestly, I didn't know he had twin children."

"..."

"Why are you here? You were quite adamant to dodge my attention for over two years now."

"I have a deal proposal for you."

"You think you have anything valuable for me? Don't make me laugh."

"So having daughter of a traitor in your hand, who is there _willingly_ isn't valuable for you?"

"State your terms."

"If you give immunitet for Vergil and her family while they are in Human World. You can't attack them or order anyone directly or indirectly to do so. And you won't send me to kill humans, I'll stay here and do anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"And what if your sister attacks first."

"...I won't interfere. If she attacks first, you can do whatever you want."

"But that's only if she comes here. What guarantee I have of that?"

"She will come here. There is no doubt. Sooner or later, she will come here."

"Very well, Daughter of Sparda. I accept your terms."

~*~

Dante never in her life thought she is going to get married. Boys always seemed too much of a trouble in the long term, and yet here she was, having a wedding with Mundus. 

No longer she had a right to wear her trousers nor coat. She was not allowed to wear anything but white and gold. Her ears got specifically pierced for that occasion. Dante also had to wear make up, something she never bothered with before. Sheer golden eyeshadow and blood red lipstick were now on her face and she couldn't get used to it. Her hair were made into an elaborate bun and accented with flowery hair piece. Her head was suddenly so heavy with all of this. 

Everything in her demeanor now screamed political prisoner, that wasn't much better than a glorified slave. She hated it, but Dante was doing it for Vergil. Maybe if she got to live a little calmer life… 

That didn't matter now. 

Mundus was clothed fully in gold. 

They came to the fancy looking table, on which there were two crystal goblets joined by a long gold-red ribbon and two silver knives decorated with pricey stones. Dante took off her opera gloves and took one of the knives. It was rather heavy, not the best for fighting. Mundus took the other knife. 

They sliced their wrists and let the blood pour into the goblets. When they were full and their wounds were healed, Dante took goblet with Mundus' blood, and he took the one with hers. 

She looked in God's eyes. He seemed to challenge her to drink it. To seal the deal and be forever joined with him. 

But both of them were too proud to back off now. 

She brought the goblet to her lips, Mundus did the same and they drinker the blood to the bottom. 

Suddenly in her mind was _dark presence_. Heavy, suffocating, horrendous. If Dante wasn't ready for it, she would've collapsed. 

She could only hope her presence in his mind was just as uncomfortable and unpleasant as his was in hers. 

"Now you'll be known as Bianco Angelo — the Queen of this place and my pride and joy. My prize."

They were married now. 

~*~

Their… wedding night… was short and to the point. 

Dante wanted to vomit. She let Mundus touch her. She let him do whatever he wanted in order to make her pregnant with his child. She hated it. That poisonous touch lingered on her skin as if it was a mud and blood mixed together. His seed in her was venomous. 

Her body was shaking. 

Was it worth to sell her freedom for Vergil? 

Dante already knew it was. Of course it was. She would let anyone do anything to her if that meant her elder sister was safe. 

If she could, she would cry but here, in this palace, she couldn't let herself have the luxury of showing her weakness. Just because she became the Queen didn't mean she was safe. 

The opposite really. 

She had to be careful if she didn't want to end up dead. 

And so she isn't going to cry anymore. 

~*~

Their affairs happened for a number of days after their wedding. 'For good luck', Mundus said. And now she was vomiting in the nearest bowl. Her smell has changed and the Fire inside her, instead of spreading around her body, was now focusing in her lower abdomen. 

Dante was pregnant. 

~*~

"Did you know that it was me, who ordered your dear mother's death, my wife?"

His voice was traitorously seductive, sharp and full of poison. 

Dante really, really wanted to hurt him. To kill him, to make him submit, but that course of action would kill her, their child and her sister. She isn't going to risk that. 

"My demons brought me her heart to feast upon. A heart of a woman, that this traitor Sparda wed and bed."

He was testing her patience. He was checking if she finally snaps and attack him, if riled up enough. 

A few years ago she would do just that without a second thought. But now she had to protect her beloved ones with her silence and compliance, so she did nothing. 

"To be honest, I thought the second Daughter of Sparda would come here first. She's so prideful, that girl. I would break her and bend her, until she finally would become a perfect puppet. A fitting end to such prideful creature, don't you think?"

At least Mundus didn't expect her to answer that. 

"I would create her anew, made her into a beautiful shape with so much power, exactly what she is always pursuing. She would be a Nelo Angelo to your white, my dear."

Dante hated him. She wanted to kill him, to make him pay for everything he had ever done. 

But she wasn't a rush stupid girl anymore. She needed to think about future. 

So she kept silent and let Mundus mock her. 

~*~

Giving birth was the most exhausting and painful thing he ever felt in her admittedly short life, but taking into account she could take quite a few blades in her body as of it was nothing it was saying something. It hurt more than when Vergil lovingly stabbed her with Rebellion. 

It was long. It was painful. It was boring. It was an agony. 

But when the child was given to her hands, she couldn't help but marvel. 

_She_ birthed her. _She_ gave her nutritions and protection when the little child was still in her. This child was first and foremost _hers._ She was so small and so beautiful. 

Dante felt really possessive over the small body. She was her mother. She is going to love and cherish this child, even if her father was less than perfect. She is going to teach her how to fight. She is going to teach her everything she could, about Underworld and Overworld both. 

The child's power felt so much like father's and sister's. She felt like Old Magic. 

Her daughter was blessed and claimed the divine force. 

"Your highness?"

"Phoebe. That's her name. _Phoebe._ "

Dante smiled for the first time she landed in Hell.

~*~ 

"Mother, is father's magic bad?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because it has 'black' in its name and I read in one book that dark means bad."

"Human books made their way to the library? Weird. But to answer your question, no, his magic isn't evil. No magic is evil, just as it isn't good. It just is."

Little Phoebe looked at Dante with pure adoration in her eyes. She was always more favored of the parents, because she actually spent time with the little girl. 

Dante was just glad Mundus was too busy to often whisper poisonous words into their child's ear. 

Her daughter also learnt in a shockingly and a little terrifying pace. She was barely four years old and she already could read more advanced magic books. Dante blamed the devil blood for that, she remembered both her and Vergil also learnt quite a few things much faster than other children. 

Suddenly, as if her daughter heard a voice that Dante couldn't hear, Phoebe jumped at her, knocking her down the ground just when the arrow cut the air in the place where just a moment before was Dante's head. 

She was pretty sure she would be fine, but it would also give assassin enough time to make a move at her daughter. 

_'Emperor, there are uninvited guests in your castle.'_

Their marriage bond was now strong enough that they could communicate with their thoughts. It wasn't only a feeling of a _dark_ presence anymore.

_'You know what to do with them, Bianco Angelo.'_

Oh, she definitely knew. _No one_ who tried to attack and use her little light is going to come out alive. 

They are going to die a painful death. 

From that point onward, no one dared to send assassins to kill the Royal Family. 

~*~

Both Mundus and her went to the Human World to test her new accessory. A white mask that was supposed to conceal her power. 

What she didn't know was that her sister was on the Mallet Island too. Dante stayed away from her eyes as good as she possibly could. 

Vergil looked… good. Maybe a little tired, but anyone would be after a whole day of fighting with demons. 

And of course she jumped straight at Mundus like a _moron._

If Dante didn't order Trish to help Vergil, she was sure her sister would be nothing more than a pancake on the stone floor. 

She was somehow able to tell the demon what to do without alarming her husband. It was more of a fortunate accident than anything. 

She learnt that through their wedding bind they can read only their most surfaced thoughts and Dante was a _master_ in thinking shallow thoughts while the true debates were happening much deeper in her mind. 

But nonetheless… 

"The mask isn't perfectly concealing me. Vergil was able to feel there is some kind of familiar disturbance."

There just were things she couldn't hide from Mundus. 

~*~

Dante was pregnant again, but somehow, this pregnancy felt much different. She was much hotter than usual, especially in her lower abdomen. It seemed like… 

Yes, there was no doubt. This child was blessed by Divine Fire, before they were even born. This power felt too alike to her own. 

Phoebe, who turned out to be a _Seer_ of all things, was really excited to meet her sibling. She was convinced she now had to protect her mother and the child from 'big bad guys'. It was really cute. Dante should start teaching her how to fight soon it seemed. But not for another year yet, she still needed to think about her new child's safety within her first and foremost. Phoebe could wait a few months longer. 

She is going to love this child just as much as she loves Phoebe. The child was _hers_. 

~*~

The second time of giving birth was easier, if only because she actually knew what she could expect now. 

And she's going to _kill_ this midwife that dared to smuggle Phoebe here. Her daughter didn't need to see the rivers of blood and mucus, and gore, and sweat that are now tailing down Dante's skin. 

She was soon preoccupied though and forgot about that particular threat. 

Then in what felt no time at all she had her son in her arms. A beautiful boy with power that felt so much like her own. 

She could hear Phoebe gasped in the background. 

"Mother queen has such a lovely smile."

"She smiled exactly the same way when she birthed you, Crowned Princess."

"But mother queen _never_ smiles."

"Well, as you can see it's not true, your highness."

If her daughter was already there, Dante thought, she might as well meet her new brother. 

"Phoebe, come here."

The little girl ran towards her with curiosity on her face. 

"This is Surtr."

"He's so small."

"You were that small too."

"Wow."

Phoebe looked at her brother with her big, golden eyes and a wonder on her face. 

"Hello Surtr, I'm Phoebe and I'm your big sister. I'll take care of you if mother queen is unable to do so."

Her kids were really cute. 

~*~

Dante might be a pretty bird in Mundus' menagerie, but it didn't mean the only thing she did was looking pretty, taking care of children and an experimental dummy when her husband created new things to conceal her presence. It certainly didn't mean she was now weak. 

Dante was also Mundus' spy in his own castle and his executioner. 

Through their marriage bond they could now look through the eyes of other for short amounts of time. And that could be pretty useful in situations like these. 

One of Mundus' high standing devils once again tried to make a move against her, thinking the Emperor wouldn't mind if he had some fun with his wife. Until today, she ignored anything he tried to do to gain her attention, but now he became a little too handsy with his approach. 

_'Mundus.'_

_'I see it. Bring me his head on a silver platter, my wife.'_

That was all she needed to hear. 

Dante took out Rebellion and decapitated the devil when he was the most vulnerable. She now had blood stains on her clothes and hair. 

"You should've known my husband is too possessive to share willingly what's his" Dante said to the head, but head didn't respond. 

Still covered in blood, Dante took the body part, dropped it on the silver platter, just like Mundus wanted, and brought it to him. 

It seemed there was some sort of meeting going on, because quite a lot of devils were gathered in the Throne Room. 

When she was walking by them, they were progressively getting quieter, until there was an almost perfect silence if it weren't for the clicking of her heels. 

"You did good, my dear. Leave the platter here and go change your clothes, you shouldn't wear anything that belongs to this trash on you."

She nodded and left the Throne Room, but not before she heard last Mundus' words:

"I do not care who you are or what is your standing, if you try to take what's rightfully _mine_ , you'll end the same way. I don't need soldiers who can't control themselves and their desire."

This was as much protection as she could get from Mundus', Dante supposed. 

~*~

When the mask was finally doing their job properly, her children now were wearing them too. It concealed their powers completely, which helped if there was a need for an escape, although they were specifically made so Mundus could mock her sister when she gets here. 

They were just back from their annual hunting/training session and Dante was writing down a sketch for a new fighting style when Vergil appeared in the castle. 

The masks were working perfectly, because she couldn't recognise Dante nor she could recognise her children's power as familiar. 

Of course one of the first things they did was to fight. 

What shocked her though was that Vergil was searching for her. 

She shouldn't. The sister Dante remembered wouldn't go down to the Underworld to seek her out. She would do so to get her revenge, maybe, she would do so to get more power, but never to look for her. 

Vergil destroyed the mask on the Rebellion linked to hers. 

Her power had to be concealed in two stages — one mask on her face to hide the power within her and the second one to hide the energy she poured into the Rebellion over the years and now claymore felt just like Dante to devils' senses. 

She quickly retreated to the Throne Room, knowing that as cruel as her sister was, she wouldn't attack her daughter, if only because Vergil was too shocked with that revelation. 

~*~

Mundus was touching her in a way he never did before. 

Was he molesting her, taking in the account that she was his wife and didn't really oppose his touch? She didn't want Mundus' hands on her body, but she endures it anyway. 

Besides it didn't matter if it was molesting or not. Mundus' was doing that to make Vergil as easy to fight as it was possible. If he wins, he is going to make her into the Nelo Angelo like he wanted for years now. 

When she got back to her children, she hid them behind her and watched as Vergil was quite literally shredding Mundus' into pieces and… suddenly, their bond was broken. 

To break the bond, one of the dueling sides has to have the will to win over the other's spouse, but it worked only if the spouse themselves wasn't satisfied with the marriage. And Dante couldn't say she was satisfied with it. She was married to Mundus' only because of the deal. 

What's more shocking is that Vergil defeated Mundus on his own territory, where he had every advantage he could dream of. 

But that didn't matter right now. 

"Are you going to kill us all now, sister?"

Vergil instead of responding sheated the Yamato and kneeled before her, presenting her beloved blade. 

And for the first time in twenty years, she allowed herself to cry. 

~*~

Devil May Cry looked good. It was clean and renovated. She teased her sister still that Vergil left the old desk and couch though. 

"There's no reason to throw out good furniture," she said. 

She was drinking in the visage of her… no, of Vergil's place. It looked homey. Welcoming. And the bookshelves where absolutely everywhere. That was so much Vergil thing. Dante would probably left the books in the boxes, she would use the place to hoard different things instead. Maybe she would do a pizza box tower. 

"Mom, you're home? That last job took you a sweet while."

Vergil was a _mother?_ She knew she extended the immunitet to any family her elder sister would have, but Dante didn't thought she would _actually_ go and have one herself. 

The young woman that came down the stairs seemed not so much older than Phoebe. She had pixie hair and wore shorts and fitting T-shirt that showed off all her muscles. 

And if Dante's nose wasn't playing tricks on her, she was mostly human. 

Wow. Just, wow. 

"Eh? Who's that?"

"Oh! You must be Nero! I saw you in my dreams too!"

Phoebe, the forever cuddly child, just straight up jumped on Vergil's daughter. Surtr just signed and came to Nero's rescue, because she seemed to suffocating under Phoebe's bear hug. 

"You didn't even introduced yourself, sister."

"...the fuck you're doing, straight up jumping on me! You are lucky I didn't have Red Queen on be, otherwise I would make a shashlik out of you!"

Phoebe only laughed at that and continued clinging to Nero for some reason. 

"Phoebe really reminds me of you, sister. You were a clingy child too."

"Yeah."

For the first time in decades, Dante was finally home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing is hard. It's even harder when you're a dumbass and open like, four different projects to write.  
> Yes. I'm that dumbass.

**Author's Note:**

> Woooooo boy, it's been a ride. And to think it was supposed to have max 4k words per chapter.  
> Ooops?
> 
> Edit: I FORGOT TO ADD THE WEDDING PORTRAIT  
> THERE IT IS:  
> https://twitter.com/AsphodelSky/status/1146434312599932928


End file.
